Anyone who spends time in the great outdoors knows that gear is both your best friend and your worst enemy. Most tech doesn’t need to be used moment-to-moment and therefore we end up hoarding many devices that we don’t necessarily need. What I have always struggled with is the balance of having everything I need on hand while remaining unburdened by unnecessary equipment. Musicians who haul their gear across the world, jack-of-all-trades contractors with trucks full to the brim with tools, trekkers with a week’s supply of rations and essential needs on their backs… we can all relate to each other’s struggles. Those are extreme examples, but even if you’re a student with a heavy backpack or a traveling businessman who doesn’t want to drag so many carry-on bags everywhere, I believe you must feel it too.
So what is the point here? Apple has worked really hard to help folks need less on their person at any given time. Yet, if you are reading this article, you probably have at least two or three Apple devices that you use regularly. Here’s a setup I see a lot: someone with an iPad, iPhone, Apple Watch and MacBook Pro that are consistently on their person while traveling. Let’s think for a moment about what each of those is used for; most folks access email and iMessages, browse the web, stream content, capture audio, photos and video, play games, design content within creative apps, edit documents and share data with others. Of the four devices I mentioned, three of them can do EVERY ONE of those functions completely autonomously (the Watch of course being in its own category of device completely unlike anything else they make and therefore not to be compared in that context).
This is not to say that the features and level of control are the same on each device, far from it. You should certainly own all those devices for the most complete Apple experience overall; however, moment to moment or out and about, it’s unnecessary to have them all on your person. Your iPhone can likely be your best friend; coupled with an Apple Watch it’s likely the only device you’d need all day every day. Unless you are doing more intensive work, you shouldn’t need more than maybe an iPad Pro on the go. The MacBook Pros are a lot lighter weight than they used to be, making them a lot easier to carry day to day. Once iCloud is all-encompassing data storage, as it pretty much already is, you won’t need anything else just to stay connected, entertained, and inspired. Goodbye heavy, redundant tech! You’ve got all the power you need right in the palm of your hand (and also attached to your wrist if you’re on the next level). And here’s the icing on the cake – iCloud accounts will become your only logins. Each iMac and MacBook, iPad and iPhone of the world will require an account to setup (the iPhone and iPad pretty much already do). You won’t think about what is on each device, you will simply know that it’s all in the cloud and also backed up to your Time Capsule. If you’re using iCloud correctly, tech is lighter and easier to manage on the go!